Chapter 58: The Third Mortal Transformation (Seeking Follows)

Chen Mo focused his mind, returning it entirely to the dantian in his abdomen, where wisps of Inner Qi circulated like rippling water.

The Transformation Pearl resided within the dantian, its internal Qi and Blood full, presenting a highly translucent crimson red.

With a shift of his intent, the long-accumulated Qi and Blood surged out continuously, merging into his flesh, muscles, and bones.

The Mortal Transformation brought about by the Transformation Pearl was both fast and slow, depending on how one looked at it.

There was one unique point: every transformation would resolve all the hidden injuries and ailments remaining in his body.

As Qi and Blood coursed through his entire body, the minor issues in Chen Mo's physical form caused by his cultivation healed in an instant.

Following this, more Qi and Blood surged toward Chen Mo's dantian and meridians; Chen Mo felt himself sink into an extremely peculiar state, as if he were running across an open field without a single thread of clothing.

The sound of Wind whistled past his entire body, but even more powerful gusts penetrated his flesh, muscles, and bones, surging into his dantian and meridians.

Chen Mo carefully sensed his own changes; these energies drawn from the outside seemed real, yet also like an illusion of his own.

But one thing was certain: his flesh, muscles, and bones had grown stronger once more.

As his Qi and Blood improved, it drove the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist to undergo further changes.

The fourth layer of the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist now began to undergo further transformation.

With Qi and Blood steaming and circulating within his body, wisps of white mist rose from Chen Mo's entire frame as the Qi and Blood continuously moved and changed inside him.

Nourishing his physical body alongside the Qi and Blood surging from the Mortal Transformation, Chen Mo assumed a stance to sense the progress of his Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist cultivation.

Sure enough, the fist technique had logically advanced from the fourth layer to the fifth, though he would still need to cultivate for a period of time to obtain the full strength of the fifth layer.

Even so, by Chen Mo's rough estimate, the strength boost this technique now provided him was definitely over 1,600 jin.

Added to the three consecutive Mortal Transformations, his current strength would likely break the 3,000 jin barrier.

With such strength, he would have few rivals across the entire Xingyuan Prefecture.

However, this Mortal Transformation did not end there; the remaining Qi and Blood power surged upward along his limbs and bones.

In an instant, Chen Mo felt as if his eyes were covered by something indescribable.

It was as if he were soaked in a bathtub, yet he opened his eyes without any preparation, his vision surrounded by warm, crimson blood.

This feeling was extremely strange but not uncomfortable; Chen Mo could not estimate how long it lasted.

Only when this sensation gradually faded did he look at the bedchamber before him again, feeling everything to be incomparably clear, as if it were broad daylight rather than a pitch-black night where one could not see their own fingers.

But this feeling dissipated after only a few breaths; Chen Mo instinctively mobilized his Qi and Blood to concentrate on his eyes.

His dark pupils turned blood-red in an instant, and under the flow of Qi and Blood, everything before him was incomparably clear.

Chen Mo rose and looked outward; although the window remained tightly shut, he could still see the scene outside through that sliver of a gap.

The night-time military camp was incomparably quiet, with only a few Personal Soldiers responsible for guarding and patrolling; Chen Mo even saw the hidden sentries he had arranged.

Casually pushing open a corner of the window to take a closer look at the camp, Chen Mo could not help but swallow, his heart rising rapidly.

He saw a human face—a pale human face about a meter square, floating in mid-air.

That face did not look like skin, but rather like an inflated balloon; the facial features were pale and twisted, looking extremely bizarre.

Yet the eyes of that face were incomparably bright, like two lanterns in the deep night.

The lantern-face seemed to notice Chen Mo's gaze, and dragging a faint, grey trail, it drifted slowly toward him.

Chen Mo took a light step back and grabbed his weapon; although he did not know what that face was, as long as the other party dared to come, regardless of whether he could pierce it or not, he had to thrust his spear at it first.

The lantern-face drifted at a very slow speed; Chen Mo retracted the Qi and Blood stimulating his eyes, and the bright lantern-face dissipated, as if it had never existed.

Gathering his Qi and Blood once more, Chen Mo saw that the lantern-face was circling left and right, seemingly searching for his direction.

After discovering his gaze, it drifted slowly toward him again.

Chen Mo tried several times in succession and finally confirmed that when he was not looking at the lantern-face, the other party could not find him.

But the reason he could see the lantern-face was that after his Qi and Blood transformed, he could use his Qi and Blood to augment his eyes.

Not only could he see at night, but he also seemed able to see some things that should not be seen.

If he could achieve this because his Qi and Blood were strong to a certain degree, then most Martial Artists in this world could likely do so as well.

For instance, his foster father; his Qi and Blood power would certainly not be weaker than his own.

If external Qi and Blood could achieve this, then internal True Qi would certainly be able to reach this step as well.

Internal Martial Artists cultivate True Qi to open their acupoints, and Inner Qi augmented upon these acupoints can exert many wonderful effects.

This was the method of using Inner Qi recorded in the Five Elements Essence-Nurturing Art, but he had not yet been able to open the meridians and acupoints in his body to let the Inner Qi circulate freely, so he could not achieve this step.

"Clang!" A crisp sound of a Gong and Drum rang out, spreading throughout the inside and outside of the camp.

Chen Mo took this opportunity to open his Blood Qi Eye again, but the previous human-skin lantern had already disappeared, as if it had never existed.

It seemed to have come from another world, and the sound of the Gong and Drum drove it back to the world it was meant to inhabit.

It seems the role the Gong and Drum can play is greater than he had imagined.

Once he returns to take up the post of Salt Transport Commissioner, he will be able to better come into contact with the Gong and Drum, and only then will he have the opportunity to study them properly.

Even if he cannot research anything, he can rely on the Gong and Drum's inherent property of driving away these strange entities to attempt to hunt them in a relatively safe way.

The Blood Monkey was able to provide him with Red Blood Stone back then; these extremely bizarre creatures might be able to as well.

Of course, although he wants to explore, his own safety remains the priority; he must survive first before he can explore other things.

If he gains something after exploring, perhaps he can use it to find a way to sound out his foster father.

As for now, it is better not to be in a hurry to speak; for one, his foster father might not necessarily tell him.

Secondly, with the strength he currently displays, he is still far from the realm of being able to see these things.

Speaking out rashly might not be a good thing; an innocent man may be guilty of a crime because of his treasure, so it is better to wait for a period of time.

Although Chen Mo wants to explore the Grey Mist and these strange creatures, and gain some harvest from them.

But he is not yet so anxious about this matter; there is no need to take risks proactively.

He slowly closed the window and walked back to his bed.

Focusing his mind on his dantian again, this breakthrough of the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist, besides the increase in Qi and Blood, also brought a significant increase in his own Inner Qi.

Chen Mo's Dantian Internal Qi has now reached over sixty percent, and he can consider starting to open his meridians at any time.

Once the meridians are opened, the recovery speed of one's own Inner Qi will be much faster, and as the meridian acupoints become able to withstand the power of Inner Qi, the Inner Qi will finally be able to begin exerting its effect.

Only upon reaching this realm does an Internal Martial Artist have the strength to fight when facing an External Martial Artist.

But apart from Chen Mo, the vast majority of Internal Martial Artists need at least ten years of hard work to cultivate to this realm.

It is because Chen Mo cultivated the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist to produce Inner Qi, and his Qi and Blood are vigorous enough to improve the Seven Kill Fist faster, that he was able to reach this realm in such a short time.

For anyone else, this is an absolutely impossible thing to accomplish.

However, he did not immediately begin to open his own meridians; over sixty percent is only a point where one can consider it, and it is not certain that he can succeed. If he fails, he will have to spend more time recovering his Inner Qi.

Waiting until he returns to take up his post and settling down for over a month before going to open his meridians and stepping into the Tongmai Realm is not too late.

Lying on the bed, he fell into a deep sleep; the next day, after tidying up slightly, Chen Mo set off to leave the military camp.

Although he has to wait three days before setting off to take up his post, he cannot leave alone; he still has to take Zhao Yu with him, so he must go and fetch her first.

(End of this chapter)